March, 2009 - Vance County Courthouse, Henderson NC 
Left to right: Jacque Esslinger - Chair, Kevin Osborne - Vice Chair, Judy Satterwhite - Secretary, Richard Esslinger-Treasurer (not pictured) During a passionate Vance County Republican Party Convention for 2009, new leadership was elected that will carry the Vance County GOP into the new era of technology, and principled grassroots activism. Resolutions that met approval included 10th Amendment State Sovereignty, protecting the citizen's right to bear arms against Federal intervention, and informing our Congressional and Executive leadership that we will not stand by silent while the fundamental principles of the American Republic are eroded from beneath us. Speakers included Chad Adams and Marcus Kindley, candidates for NC GOP Chairman. Delegates were elected to proceed to the District and State GOP Conventions. One of the primary items to come out of the Vance County Convention, was a renewed conviction to demand an adherence to conservative principles, regardless of the party holding office, and a renewed commitment to work from the grassroots up to restore the Constitutional Order. Also noteworthy was a profound commitment displayed by all present to work towards full inclusion from the grassroots up, towards building a stronger, more representative Vance County Republican Party.
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Over the years what made the Marion County Republican Party strong was that it was built on democratic principles - precinct committeemen were elected every two years and they immediately turned around and picked the leadership. If you wanted to dump a county chairman, you ran a slate of committeemen in the election. Although the battles were sometimes contentious and brutal, it was at the core a healthy process that created a very strong, active grass roots organziation. Every few decades the Marion County GOP would go into decline, and be reborn by a change in regime made possible by the democratic process of electing new committeemen to vote out those who had been in power.
mcp
During the mid-1980s the legislature changed that process. In a couple bills they changed the terms so they both served four year terms and adjusted the timing of the county chairman election so it would be nearly 3 years after the election for committeemen. The result was that instead of having a county convention attended only by precinct committeemen elected a few weeks earlier, you have a convention filled with appointees of the county chairman. In short, the county chairman gets to pick his own voters at the convention, filling numerous vacancies with mummy-dummies whose only purpose is to attend the convention and vote for the current chairman. While I greatly appreciate and admire Professor Karlson for wanting to stick out his neck and go against the status quo, Ronald Reagan could not beat Tom John in the upcoming county convention which will be as fair of an election as those held in the old Soviet Union.
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a+ training
Outstanding! I am so glad that we have an organization in Vance County now that is really moving and shaking! Now let's get a full house for the 2010 convention and really blow them away!